1 INTRODUCTION
1. We visited Iraq in June 2006 to see for ourselves
the environment in which UK Forces are operating and to meet senior
members of the new Iraqi Government. Our predecessor Committee
visited Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and published two reports: Iraq:
An Initial Assessment of Post-Conflict Operations (published
in March 2005) and Lessons of Iraq (published in March
2004).[1] This report is
not a comprehensive examination of the political and security
situation in Iraq. Our purpose is to highlight some of the issues
which were raised with us during our visit.
2. In Basra, we met UK troops at Basra Air Station,
Basra Palace and the Shaibah Logistics Base and we received briefings
on the current security situation in Multi-National Division (South
East) (MND (SE)), the challenges involved in security sector reform,
and the prospects for regional transition to Provincial Iraqi
Control (PIC). We also met the Commanding Officer of the Iraqi
10th Division, General Latif, and the British-led Military Transition
Team assisting the 10th Division in attaining operational readiness.
In Baghdad, we met the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki,
the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Salaam Zawba'i, the two Vice Presidents,
Adel Abdul Mehdi and Tariq Al Hashimi, and the Speaker of the
Iraqi Parliament, Mahmood Mashadani. We also met the US Political
Military Counsellor, David Litt, and visited the NATO Training
Mission to Iraq. And, we received briefings from the UK Ambassador,
William Patey CMG, UK Embassy officials and Department for International
Development (DfID) representatives, and met with senior UK military
personnel working with Coalition Forces in Baghdad. An outline
programme of our visit is provided in Annex B to the report.
3. On 20 June 2006, we took evidence from Rt Hon
Adam Ingram MP, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Lieutenant
General Nick Houghton CBE, Chief of Joint Operations, Permanent
Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), and Dr Roger Hutton, Director, Joint
Commitments Policy, Ministry of Defence (MoD). We have also drawn
on the evidence provided by the Secretary of State for Defence,
Rt Hon Des Browne MP, and senior MoD officials on 11 July 2006.
4. While in the USA in May 2006, we visited the UN
headquarters in New York and the US Administration and Congress
in Washington DC and discussed the security situation in Iraq
and the prospects for transition to Provincial Iraqi Control with
both UN and US officials.
5. We appreciate the assistance provided by our specialist
advisers: Mr Paul Beaver, Professor Michael Clarke, Rear Admiral
Richard Cobbold, Air Vice Marshal Tony Mason, Dr Andrew Rathmell
and Brigadier Austin Thorp.
1 Defence Committee, Third Report of Session 2003-04,
Lessons of Iraq, HC57-I; Defence Committee, Sixth Report
of Session 2004-05, Iraq: An Initial Assessment of Post-Conflict
Operations, HC 65-I Back
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